2010 Boy Scouts Silver Dollars Sold Out

The United States Mint finally placed the proof 2010 Boy Scouts of America Centennial Silver Dollar on official “Sold Out” status — weeks (if not months) after many had anticipated the event would occur.

This closes the final chapter on what has been an interesting roller-coaster for the commemorative coins that celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Boy Scouts of America.

The proof coins launched on March 23, 2010, along with their uncirculated counterparts, to overwhelming demand.

In fact, ordering in the first few hours was so intense that the U.S. Mint’s online store and telephone systems experienced significant issues reminiscent of the troubles that occurred during last year’s Lincoln Coin and Chronicles Set release.

200,000 Boy Scout Silver Dollars were sold during the first four days of their release, accounting for well over half of the maximum 350,000 mintage allowed by law.

Sales following this point remained brisk with thousands ordered weekly. Jump ahead almost exactly one month to April 26, 2010, and the Mint took its first major step since the coins launched by placing future uncirculated orders on a waiting list. This effectively meant that the Mint had sold the entire mintage it had allocated for the uncirculated strikes, but was accepting “back-up” orders in case some became available through order cancellations, customer returns, etc.

A few days later, enough customers had joined the standby list that the Mint declared their sell out. Preliminary sales figures showed almost 105,000 had been sold, indicating the Mint would be using a 70/30 split where 70% of the coins were proof and 30% uncirculated.

The Mint continued to sell the proof silver dollars for several more weeks until June 18, 2010 when their waiting list was enabled. That is exactly where the commemorative coins remained for six weeks.

Finally, the Mint declared an official sell out on Wednesday, August 4, 2010. The mintage split for the coins turned out to be 245,000 for the proof and 105,000 for the uncirculated.

For now and until 2011, the only commemorative coin available from the Mint is the 2010 American Veterans Disabled for Life Silver Dollar. These coins were actually released a month prior to the 2010 Boy Scouts Silver Dollars, and are available in both proof and uncirculated.

Boy Scouts Silver Dollar Designs

The obverse or heads side of the Boy Scout coin contained the images of three youth members of the Scouting organization: a Cub Scout, a female Venturer and a Boy Scout. Each were shown in their full uniform while giving a salute. Around the scouts were found the inscriptions: CONTINUING THE JOURNEY, 1910, 2010, IN GOD WE TRUST and LIBERTY. It was designed by Donna Weaver and engraved by Charles Vickers.

Jim Licaretz engraved the universal emblem of the Boy Scouts of America which was featured on the reverse. Surrounding the emblem were the inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA, BE PREPARED, E PLURIBUS UNUM and ONE DOLLAR.

The National Boy Scouts of America Foundation will receive a total of $3.5 million, as each silver dollar sold included a $10 surcharge for the "extension of Scouting in hard to serve areas."